sbs 2011 - roaming users - shall we use redirected folder or can we use roaming profiles

The two technologies are separate and have different considerations. They *fundamentally* use different approaches and thus should not be considered interchangable. They are, however, complementary and thus can be used together. There is no simple answer here.

Roaming Profiles:

Uses a "sync" style technology. Changes are pulled down and then pushed back up. This can increase login times and can create file version conflicts if users log into multiple devices simultaneously.

Registry data is captured and can roam.

Users have an experience where more of their settings "follow" them and thus can be an easier transition.

Roaming profiles are *not* compatible across some OS versions. Most notably between 2003/XP and earlier compared to 2008/Vista and later.

Impacts network bandwidth usage during login and logout.


Redirected Folders:

Limited in which folders can be redirected. But more compatible with mismatched OSes compared to roaming profiles.

Folders are (as the name implies) redirected, *not* synced. Reducing login times.

Registry settings are *not* shared among multiple devices.

Documents, desktop files and icons, and other files that are redirected will follow a user, but very few personal settings. If an application uses the appdata folder, those settings can be redirected. But the experience is inconsistent.

Increases network usage during regular use, thus lower network scalability.

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As I mentioned they can be combined. So you can implement roaming profiles for the better user experience *and* folder redirection to reduce login times and reduce the risk of file-level sync conflicts. However network usage is higher at both login *and* during use, making network scalability an important consideration.

Each of the three approaches has pluses and minuses as outlined above, but it all comes down to the user experience, the risk management of the helpdesk, and the capacity of the network, servers, and devices being used.

-Cliff